Five Frugal Things -- Oregon Historical Society & Free Postcards
1) My sister's family and I were invited to the Oregon Historical Society for a private docent tour by a friend, whose daughter volunteers at the museum. It's already free for Multnomah County residents, so it was a certain frugal lady's dream come true.
You know I enjoyed this pair of circa 1800 socks, complete with a clever flax repair. It's not like earlier Oregonians were able to pop over to the local yarn shop for darning wool. It looks like it did the job quite nicely!
2) We perused the gift shop, but then walked over to the entrance area where we found a display of free postcards and bookmarks. We each helped ourselves to a few which was fun.
This display is actually just half of what they had on offer.
I chose four postcards, my favorite of which is obviously the lil' dapper gent!
3. My husband chose to sleep instead of accompanying us to the museum, but made good use of his time and fixed an issue with our front door that's been a problem for at least ten years! The problem being that the heavy door no longer matched up with the deadbolt opening, which meant we weren't able to fully lock the door. Sure it locked, but didn't have the extra security of a proper deadbolt.
When asked what prompted this act of DIY energy, my husband simply replied that "it needed to be done." Perhaps he was on a roll from his basement plumbing success.
4. I drove my sister and her kids to our mother and stepfather's house, where we were treated to an another private docent tour. This time was the "Musée de Zimm," which is a small museum in their basement based on the odds and ends left behind by the previous owners. My stepdad gives tours as if it's a real museum and somehow his NYC grandchildren had never had the privilege. To say it's a blast is an understatement.
I'd share pictures, but there was a "no flash photography" rule.
5. I'm listening to an enjoyable Mary Kay Andrews Libby audiobook, which helps to balance out the horrific daily news cycle prompted by our felonious low IQ megalomaniac pedophile president.
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
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Love the free postcards!
We have a map on our wall where we hang up postcards we collect.
1. Wore the same dress for Easter as last year
2. Stitched up a hole in a sweater
3. I'm decorating my couch with pillows and blankets to put off re-upholstering or purchasing another
4. Purchased some plants off fb
5. Using a bucket someone gave us as a planter
Longer post and pictures here: https://practicalwalk.com/2026/04/08/frugal-five-going-boho/
1. I got to the scratch and dent vegetable store to pick up some steeply discounted butternut squash, and onions. Picked up more loss leaders and got out with pounds of produce for just over $20. We've been enjoying roasted squash in salads and burrito bowls, so I wanted to take advantage of the sale – spring is coming and the winter vegs won't be such a good deal in a month or so, nor will we be so excited about eating them!
2. I got mom to the last of the internal imaging appointments that had been set up. It was at a mall that is 'new' to me (probably 20 years old, LOL) that I find very confusing, built at the confluence of several highways and not really parking friendly.
I did manage to manifest a parking spot directly across from the doors (someone pulling out just as we arrived) and Mom was in and out in 10 minutes. That was enough for her so I just drove her home rather than going for lunch which had been my initial plan. The drive home included an unplanned tour of all of the Mall's parking lots, and we ended up on a different road going back, however Mom frequently surprises me with how she can find pleasure in small things, and she simply kept exclaiming about the 'wonderful things' she was seeing – and the trees are beginning to bloom so the back roads home were full of beauty.
3. Because I was going down to see my mom, I booked an appointment with her bank for on the way. Due to traffic, I both had to get out the door much earlier than I am usually able to be moving (groan), and got to be stuck in stop-go morning rush hour - making the drive at least 40 min longer (on top of the usual hour and a half). Sigh.
The excellent news is that I have finally broken through in the online banking access (!!!) , and have managed to access Mom's travel points via her credit card. (Also !!!)
Now that we have access, and knowing that Mom isn't going to be travelling on the points, my niece is going to investigate if we will continue to have access to them once Mom isn't around (do they disappear? Can they be transferred?). We'll also see if they can and/or should be converted into gift cards. The research continues.
Mom is fully supportive of us doing this research and keeping her informed – and using the points for something like bringing my sister out from the other side of the country.
4. I stopped to pick up a prescription and bumped into a friend I hadn't seen in a while. I was saddened to hear that she has cancer – it is always a shock when I slip out of touch with people and their lives take a turn for the worse. Turns out she was staggering back to her car to drive home to get her forgotten wallet so she could buy her expensive meds. I convinced her that the better plan was for ME to buy her meds (she sent me an e-transfer) so she could avoid all that driving.
Having room on my credit card to buy meds for a friend is one of the priceless gifts of being fiscally frugal. I would have gifted her the cost, but she said she gets fully reimbursed because it is some kind of trial.
In the end we spent a good half hour standing in the sun in the parking lot, having one of those hard conversations about where she and her family are at about her terminal illness, as well as lots of random talk about my kids (she was their daycare person) and some community issues. She was one of the friends who picked up the slack for me when I went into recovery treatment for my drinking problem, and I have been grateful for her friendship for the last 25 years. My heart is sore.
5. I picked up a couple of steeply discounted salad packets, which I used as the base for an enormous salad enhanced with tonnes of my garden arugula, two discount head lettuces that were in sad shape, generous spoonfuls of my instant potted garbanzo beans, and a skiff of pecans. The kits had dressing and two different kinds of crumbles. I ate a huge amount, #2 son got some for supper and lunch, and the Roommate also feasted. Feeling the love for a big crunchy (discount) salad!
I am now going to go out to the garden to do some nature decompressing - and watering.
Ecoteri, nature decompressing is an excellent idea and is more doable than my scheme to move to a cabin far from civilization with no Internet.
So sorry to hear about your friend. It was really kind of you to save her the car trip.
Ecoteri, I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. You were so kind to help her out.
I'm sorry about your friend's cancer diagnosis. It's kind of like you were meant to be where you were today to cover for her meds and have a long talk with her, if you believe in that kind of thing. I do. Old friendships are priceless. Glad you were there for her.
Thank you for reminding me of Mary Kay Andrews. An appropriate feel-good author for these times. She has a new book which my library has on order and I'm only #5 on the list.
1. Worked at the community garden this morning and brought home half a slice of homemade sourdough bread from snack time. Dh will enjoy this for breakfast. By itself it's not much of a savings, but 50 equally tiny things that I do eventually do add up to helping financially.
2. Gave away a carpet (stained, given to me by a friend who needed to get rid of it), and some celery seedlings on Buy Nothing.
3. Washed a load of laundry in cold water (always), measuring the liquid detergent with a free teaspoon (detergent is often not measured and too much is used), and hung it on the line to dry.
4. Making a quilt out of saved baby blankets from my own children (now between 26 and 31). It's a fun project. I may buy a some new fabric to finish it with, but I'm enjoying being creative with these blankets that hold so many memories, and which I already own!
5. Rode my bike to library.
Bonus: towards the end of the school year my husband's skill as a math tutor is in higher demand, so he has a student this afternoon. Yay!
My husband has long joked that he needs to invent an 6 inch strike plate, so the deadbolt will always work no matter which way the house settles. I think he's onto something!
Whoops - my frugals:
My #1 is marrying a man who is handy. We have 2 teen/young adult drivers, and thanks to my husband's ability to fix just about anything, he is able to keep the 20+ year old vehicles they drive (both with over 250k miles) going strong. With the current price of used cars this saves us a ton, along with the savings on car insurance since we only need liability.
2. Dinner each night has been leftover Easter ham with a different side dish, and I am hammed out.
3. Husband and I took advantage of a few free days and some beautiful weather and spent the past 3 days doing some exterior painting on our house. This equaled 2 no spend days and no gas used since we haven't left the house.
4. Listed several things on Marketplace, only sold one but hopefully things will pick up this weekend.
5. My college kid has a birthday this week, and to celebrate he requested lasagna dinner at home and play board games. I pick up lasagna ingredients whenever they're on sale, so the only thing I'm missing is cottage cheese (used in place of ricotta).
There's been a lot of adulting going on at Chez B. Exhibits 1-5:
1. Went to a county meeting where we had our property tax valuation reviewed. Our property taxes have gone up 40% in 2.5 years, and we wanted to make sure there hasn't been some kind of mistake. With everything we learned, our valuation should probably be even higher, but we didn't tell them that.
2. Contacted our trash hauler after receiving notification about the increase in our quarterly billing. Our initial two-year contract expired, plus there are now higher costs for the hauler across the board. I asked if there was anything they could do to help reduce our bill and they made some concessions. The cost is still going up, but not as much, so it pays to ask. We already have the smallest bin and have so little trash that we don't even put it out every week. I've thought about asking a neighbor to share their bin and split the cost, but there's dog poop to consider. It's bagged but still reeks.
3. Learned from our HVAC company that there's a 50% electric rate reduction for our heat pump for October-May from our electric company. Signed up pronto.
4. Questioned the $170 annual increase for umbrella insurance. Learned that our second vehicle (husband's truck) has never been part of that policy, and only because we recently sold his old truck and bought another one did that trigger things on the insurance agent's end. Irked about the increase as well as the past error, even if it did save us money, as we were exposed to significant financial risk all those years and didn't realize it.
5. Started to gather info to compare policies for auto, home and umbrella insurance with other insurers. We've been with the same insurance company for more than 40 years and have done what we can to stem the tide of rising costs. Sadly, there's no loyalty discount. We contacted other insurers a few years ago and stayed the course, but we need to review things again.
My family has had really good luck using independent insurance agents- just google for one in your area. They can compare the coverage(s) you want across multiple companies and they do all of the legwork for you. We've saved a lot of money and ended up with really good coverage for our needs this way.
My daughter found out about insurance brokers when her condo neighbour introduced DD to the neighbour's niece. The sweet result for DD was over $400 in savings, and then the Broker saved my mom over $600. I'm sold! the broker had a struggle with my farm insurance but we got her connected to the company who was already insuring me and moved the account to the new broker, I know she will work hard for us.
Car insurance is mostly a provincial thing, so rarely savings there and not much need to shop around.
The postcards are fabulous and they're suitable for all sorts of occasions!
1. My husband is trying to cut back on salt usage and we got Schwartz garlic pepper to use instead for flavor which does the trick. However, it is quite expensive (3 Euro per jar) and looking at the ingredients I realized that I could just mix up the same herbs from store brand spices for less than half the cost which is exactly what I did.
2. I'm continuing to use: my tablet which is really slow but only gets used to read library e-books and is completely fine for that, my laptop which has no audio and needs to be used with headphones, my headphones without cushions as the material was flaking off and I constantly had black bits in my hair and ears!
3. My former colleague gave me a bag of t-shirts for my teens which have however become quite picky with their clothes. I ended up with some of the t-shirts as there were no takers. One of them randomly says Portland Health Club 1998 on the front and every time I wear it I think of Katy 🙂 None of the t-shirts are my size (they are size S, I am size XL-XXL) but they are perfect for wearing under jumpers and fleeces in winter as I don't like wearing bulky clothes as the base layer.
4. My son gave me a haircut! I have long hair and just needed half an inch trimmed off to keep it healthy. I just combed it out so it was cascading down the back and asked him to cut off half an inch in a straight line. I have curly hair so any tiny imperfections do not show. We were both quite happy with the result!
5. I am able to use some greens from the garden in salads and pesto now - sorrel, wild garlic, chives, parsley, swiss chard, young dandelion leaves.
I stayed home yesterday (saving has), but was out and about today. I went back to Aldi, because I didn't get my full list on my first trip. I spent another $30. I got a few things that weren't on my list, including dried apricot and mango. They weren't cheap, though I'm assuming they were cheaper at Aldi than other places. My rationale is that, as someone who needs fiber with every meal, it's a good idea to have fiber that can be taken on the go.
I went to Home Depot for light bulbs as well. In the parking lots between HD and Aldi I found a number of receipts which I have scanned.
My last stop was at the library, to pick up two books on hold.
I have run into an eBay problem. I sold some shoes but I listed them as the wrong size. There was no indication of the size on either of the shoes, so I measured the dimensions and compared them to a chart. Apparently, the chart was wrong. The buyer emailed me, and I responded, but I can't find a process for reimbursing her and getting the shoes back. Unless we do it privately. Any ideas, eBay experts?
Figured it out!
The buyer should tell eBay she wants to return the item. eBay will contact you, the seller, and eBay will ask you if you want to refund her, if you agree, eBay sends her postage label and will reimburse the buyer for you. They will of course charge you for the reimbursement.
She told me, but apparently not eBay. But I did figure out, finally, how to bring up the order and select "refund." She is getting her money back, but I don't know if I will see those shoes again.
Beth W, in the future have the buyer request a return from Ebay as Merv suggested. You then refund the buyer only after you receive the item back. It's okay to just refund if you don't want the item back which I sometimes do if it's not worth paying the return postage.
I’m picking up an extra 4 hrs at my part time job this week. That’ll help offset the 6 hrs I missed last week for my trip to Oregon
I questioned a bill I got from the heart hospital (I had surgery 12/2024) Two charges on the same day. Very interesting
Hubby did the Costco run so we are stocked up again on dishwasher and clothes detergent and dog food.
Took my sip club drink from
Panera to my meeting today
Re: Socks from 1800s. I can’t imagine how small the knitting needles were to create such a fine stitch. And, yes, darning would be necessary to preserve the work that went into those socks.
The postcards are so cute.
1. Had a homemade protein muffin and a hard boiled egg for breakfast.
2. Brought my lunch with me to work but I didn't need it. My friend got us loaded baked potatoes. They are so good.
3.Stopped at a little free library to drop off books and I took 4 more. It is a wonderful never ending cycle.
4. Went with a widowed friend to get pizza. I try to spend at least one evening a week with her. I only got a slice of pizza and a free cup of water.
5. I needed to go to The Dollar Tree. Asked my friend if she minded going since we were near buy. I get my shelf stable almond milk there. It is over a dollar less then anywhere else. I did not buy any of the clearance Easter candy because I don't need it. I still have some left from Christmas clearance.
That's the best description of Felon 45-47 I've ever read! Sadly, it's very accurate.
Meanwhile, do you know the identity of the little boy in the top hat? Does it say on the postcard? He is adorable! A child in formal wear must surely have been wealthy. Who was he, a Rockefeller? (Sorry. Couldn't resist. )
I hired my friend to repair some things in the house and around the yard. Including a rain gutter that had not been correctly installed, some paint touchups near the ceiling, changing a burned out ceiling light, and several other things that also required climbing a ladder. He did 2 full days of work and fixed a lot of problems. I had to pay him a lot but I figure it's cheaper than me suffering a broken bone; at my age, I'm no longer climbing ladders.
I got a hearty guffaw out of the "no flash photography" rule!
Exchanged a non functional oxygen concentrator for one that will work when I get my new CPAP machine (hopefully this week).
Instead of depending on my very unhelpful clinic to help with CPAP machine I made an appointment with the local sleep clinic. They ordered said machine almost immediately.
Took CPAP supplies that didn't work with the old machine back to Norco for a credit balance.
Took several expired or otherwise useless medications to the drug drop off but one got stuck in the drop off thing so I'm stuck with 2 packages of expired lidocaine patches.
On staycation so cleaning tidying decluttering and resting.
Katy, did you look in the museum gift shop for postcards? Those would be a great work around of the no flash photography policy. Maybe you could suggest adding postcards to the inventory to the gift shop manager.
What else could your mom and step-dad feature in their giftshop?
Clever thought, Candy! Maybe the Gift Shop Manager can supplement the museum by selling postcards online?
Maybe put a display of postcards next to the cash register in the cafe.
I like the flax repair on the socks. I appreciate resourcefulness.
1. I took another walk with my dog and my friend yesterday for free exercise.
2. My brother-in-law stopped by to pick up my husband's golf clubs. My kids didn't want them. He's not a golfer but may give it a try or just keep them in the corner of his office as a daily memory of his brother.
3. While my BIL was visiting we had a cup of coffee and he gave me some good advice on selling my house and moving to another. He's a real estate guy and will help me through the process.
4. I made a dinner of enchiladas for my mom and sister. Neither of them likes to cook and always appreciate a break from it and also eating something that they wouldn't normally make themselves. I already had the chicken in the refrigerator from an earlier batch and I used up the last of some instapot black beans in my freezer.
5. I am working on the puzzle one of my kids got me for Christmas. It keeps my brain busy and distracts me from the current situation the crazy orange one has put us in.
Let's see...
I paid a fancy shampoo on Amazon 2 euros using my survey coupon.
I sold some stuff on Vinted. (I get 40-70 euros per month.)
I reused a gift bag.
I read 3 ebooks for free...
I remembered some nice green tea I got a while ago before buying some new.
get > make
Oh, it's also line drying season again.
Sounds like you're having a fun visit with your sister and her family while keeping it frugal.
1. DH and I went for a walk around the neighborhood for exercise. It was nice to see all the daffodils and crocuses in the yards we passed. Yesterday was that day in New England when the grass suddenly turned bright green.
2. While walking I found a dime in the road. Into the found change jar it went.
3. We had the last of the Easter ham for dinner last night. It went a long way with many meals and sandwiches.
4. I donated three grocery-sized bags of clothes and other bits of material to St. Vincent de Paul. I did this while batching errands yesterday which took me right by the church where the collection bins are. With gas in the area going for $3.99 per gallon there's no unnecessary trips.
5. I spent $25.97 at Aldi's for a 5lbs. of Russet potatoes, a dozen eggs, a box of mac and cheese, a bag of frozen French fries, 3 bananas, 8 oz. cheddar cheese, a loaf of sourdough bread, a pound of strawberries, cottage cheese, a bag of 6 bagels, 2 cans of catfood, yellow mustard and a small jar of chopped garlic.
Your dad's basement museum sounds like a blast.
We're on a two week camping trip. *First stop was a national recreation area. Camping is $3.50 a night. *Today we're headed to a national monument. Free admission with our national parks senior pass.
*I brought food from home for most of our meals. Last night we grilled the last two steaks from the 1/4 cow we purchased last year. Today we're eating out at a much lauded local restaurant. It was closed last time we were in the area so I'm looking forward to trying it out.
*We each brought a bunch of books to read-- both ebooks and physical books. A great way to get a break from the news cycle.
I've struggled with the news cycle, and the worry for my ILs, who are in Tehran. I've found it very difficult to "do life", when I'm consumed with anxiety & guilt. Which I also know is not healthy, since there is zero I can do about the political situation. Writing up my small wins & rage scrubbing my shower, talking to friends, & reading all helps.
1) Have been listing more on eBay & have sold a bunch over the past 10 days or so. It really feels like it goes in phases. I've made about $300 after fees.
2) Opened up a case with Home Depot, when two gift cards had a $0 balance, but were unused & still in the protective sleeve cover.
3) Handled swapping over the car insurance for my special needs aunt, including aligning on coverage with family members.
4) Had to go to the office yesterday for some tech support. Drove electric & avoided paying for lunch, but did partake of a few free snacks, until I could get home & make my own lunch.
5) Avoided stores & reflected that we have everything we need.
My favorite cow, Happy, passed away. She died of natural causes. I found her with her feet uphill and bloated. (Bloat is a malady effecting ruminants.) She would have been 5 this July. She was the daughter of Goliath, aka Golly-good-girl. Golly was getting old and had twins. It was clear that she could not successfully raise 2 calves. So, in the MO heat I caught Happy and packed her across my shoulders out of a 40 acre field. She went home with me and I raised her on a bottle in my back yard. Elsa stayed with Golly. I kept both heifers for cows. She was sweet natured like her mother. She liked having her chin scratched and was an excellent mother. Last year, a snarky horned cow poked her in the ribs and I had to treat her (clean the wound and give antibiotics.) I'm not sure she ever trusted me the same after that. I still have Elsa and she's doing fine but she's not my pet. I saved her as a calf, I helped her when she was hurt, but I couldn't save her this time and I hate it. I've been raising cattle since age 6 and losing one never gets easier. I feel very fortunate to farm for a living and to steward the animals, water, and land every day but some days are just hard.
We now have 13 calves. The grass is almost ready to turn out on. I'm rehabbing the existing fence to accommodate sheep.
Hanging out the wash. Shared some vintage clothes with friends. Washed a quilt at my Mom's. Took an economical corn casserole to Easter and brough home leftovers. My truck was running rough, so I took it to my brother for repair. Might as well pay him, as opposed to the local shop. DS received a life jacket from the Easter bunny. DH got nwt socks from GW.
I’m so sorry about your cow. They can be very sweet.
Laura, I'm sorry Happy is gone and that you're hurting.
Rest in peace, Happy!
We've had a busy 3 weeks. Lambing season. Today was the last. 2 American black bellies ewes!
Yesterday and today have been super frugal
1. Found a whole bunch of free stuff yesterday as the weather is getting nice so folks are starting to put stuff out again: a big box of fresh spinach from the little free pantry, six sprouting onions (from same place) that I planted today to harvest the seeds for next year, a new in box topsy turvy planter, a cute ceramic planter, a box with canned goods and a box of fruit loops (I kept the fruit loops and a can of corn, the rest went into the freezer pantry, a small bench I put over my TNR cat’s food dish to keep it dry, six boxes of new Christmas and Halloween lights (shared with a friend.)
2. Made applesauce with free apples from a friend. I gave her a jar.
3. Paid $25 for $58 worth of groceries by buying loss leaders and using store coupons.
4. Cooked a bunch of meals with only ingredients I had on hand: goulash, tuna noodle casserole, chicken corn noodle soup, pork fried rice, naan bread pizza (bread was gifted to us and non of us really like it so it became yummy pizza), so now we have meal options for several days.
5. My friend that works at a small organic grocery store gave me a bag of veggies for the Guinea pigs. They eat very well!
Bonus number 6. I’m running a craft making table at an event Sunday. At the last minute lol. I put together a few fun inexpensive crafts with items I already have. I am borrowing more crayons and markers so I have enough.
1. Went to bread outlet on Wednesday which is 10% off for seniors. It is not high end bread like the Franz outlet but it will do. I got bread loaves, English muffins, & protein bagels. If you spend $7 you get a free item. I got 7 items for 7 dollars. These items at the grocery are $3-4 so it is a savings.I put most in the freezer for later use.
2. Used some milk that was going off to make scrambled eggs & ate one of my bagels from the bakery outlet for breakfast. The cats ate some kibble that I got free off Nextdoor Neighbor. A cheap breakfast for all. (The husband was on his own for breakfast.)
3. I found some men's long sleeve button down shirts & small sizes of women's pants. I washed them & took to the mental health hospital. I also took some magazines I had already read.
4. My Nextdoor Neighbor friend gave me 16 small containers of Oikos yogurt. While I was picking them up I saw she had a box of dishes on her curb leftover from a garage sale. She gave me the dishes. I will donate them to the thrift store.
5. I vacuumed out my dirty car using my beloved cannister vacuum. I then went to the self-serve carwash to wash the exterior for $2. ( I found a dollar bill the day before so the wash was actually one dollar cost to me.)